Anything You Can Do.....

Charlie thought he had Talia right where he wanted her. but she was quick to escape and capitalize! He felt her grab him and catch him in a rollup pin, and before things could register she kissed him and he embraced it. Maybe he had her right where he wanted her after all?

However, he realized that he was in a ring and stuck in a pinning position. As soon as he became aware he kicked Talia off and rolled backwards in order to get to his feet. "Ya almost had me there babe. What other tricks do ya have in store for me?" Charlie asked with a wink, referring to her kiss. He hoped she didn't catch on to his deep breathing. Truth be told she was doing a lot better than he anticipated, and truthfully was winning thus far. Charlie was proud as he knew she had it in her, but a bit disappointed in himself for only doing so-so. Still, he knew going into this that she could crush him and run circles around him and he'd still love her just the same at the end of the day.

Charlie knew Talia would be ready, so he moved in again for another grapple eager to see what she had, and eager to see if his work on technique would start to pay dividends.

Talia was surprised when Charlie pushed her off of him. Not because he could, but because he did. "I think that was a two count," she jested while stepping forward to meet his grapple. 'I've still got a few," she added as she met him in the middle of the ring as strongly as she could. Once more they were pushing each other as hard as they could.

It may had seemed redundant to an outside viewer, but each time they met in the grapple it was essentially training all over again. All it took was once successful grappling maneuver to win or lose a match, and now was as good as time as any for the two to practice on someone they could hope to overcome with it. Talia was still fresh, and she more or less knew Charlie's strength. She dug her heels into the ground and lowered herself slightly to give herself more leverage.

Charlie knew that overpowering people wasn't his style. Normally he just zipped around and didn't stop. However after his match with Abbey he knew he needed to do more than just bounce around like a pinball.

Footwork. Footwork was something he had worked on a lot lately. Talia was quick and technically sound so she was a great measuring stick for his progress. Charlie kept a hold of Talia who had dug in, and slightly bladed himself off to her and lowered himself down almost in a lunge. He tried to grab a hold of Talia and put her across his shoulders and lift her and himself up with his legs instead of his upper body. Setting her up for a samoan drop like this was sort of a power move that didn't require lots of power, just good technique. As Charlie got to a standing height he simply leaned back and fell so Talia would land on her back!

Talia was too caught up trying to overpower Charlie that she wasn't in a good position to counter when he dropped down. Her momentum carried her over his shoulder and she immediately found herself lifted up and then back down.

She crashed to the mat on her back with Charlie on top of her. The redhead groaned on impact and arched her back. She hadn't expected something like that from Charlie! Maybe he was training as hard as she was on new areas of expertise after all. With a pained hiss, she rolled a couple feet away, holding her back.

Charlie heard Talia groan and immediately felt terrible. Still, they were training and if they wanted to get better as well as be an effective team they had to take it seriously. Right? Charlie's love for Talia was like an over-ride on his logical and serious approach to the spar. Hell, in a couple days Alaina was taking him out to pick out an engagement ring for Talia. Charlie saved up for a while and instead of a down payment on a new challenger to replace his corolla he opted for the ring. This lady meant the world to him, and he wanted to try to end the spar quickly.

Charlie decided to go for a pin, and couldn't help but show off a bit. Talia wasn't the only speedy one after all! Charlie stood next to Talia and jumped up, looking to hit her with a standing moonsault! Once he hit he would hook her leg and go for the pinfall! He hoped that this would be the end so he could get to making her a nice dinner before a possible second round to the wrestling match back at their apartment.

The redhead breathed quickly in and out as the pain in her back dissipated. The gym lights weren't as bright as those on the arena, but they still always made it annoying to look up while on her back. It was just more motivation to get back up. It didn't take long for Charlie to be back on top of her. Fortunately for her, though, she was prepared for what came next.

He moonsaulted towards her, and she rolled out of harms way so he hit the mat instead. Then, while lifting her legs out and up, she grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him into a seated head-scissors. It wasn't the normal type, as he was facing her instead of out, but she made sure to hold his arm straight so he wouldn't get any ideas about using it to escape. It was her finisher, but she knew she wasn't squeezing Charlie's head as hard as she could. A small grin formed on her face.

Talia reached out and stroke Charlie with her right hand, the one she use to bash people's faces in while trapped in the hold. She couldn't imagine doing that to him. "Are you gonna tap?" she taunted jokingly.

Charlie hit the mat with a loud thud and was caught in a nasty submission move! Talia wasn't applying much pressure, but Charlie wasn't getting anywhere anytime soon.

"Pfff me tap? This is my neck not my knee! I never use my brain so bloodflow to the brain isn't essential." Charlie muttered as he tried to wriggle free or wedge his arm between Talia's legs to pry them apart. He tried again, and again to no avail. Charlie saw her grin and knew he had nowhere to go. She could choke him out if she really wanted to.

Charlie began tapping her butt. With a sigh and some degree of embarassment he acknowledged her win. She just came back and he'd been going strong... OK, he'd been back in the ring with mixed results but still he had been back for a while. "Ya got me."

Just as a joke, Talia held the hold for a few seconds longer. Then, with another grin, she released her legs from around his head and rolled him and herself over, so he was on his back and she was atop him, her knees at the sides of his head. She squeezed but not in a painful way, just a restrictive one. "I got you," she whispered in response as she leaned over him while holding herself up with her arms.

Then, she released him once more and moved her legs further down to his abdomen. Leaning atop him, she caressed his face and kissed him on the lips with another smile on her lips. "I've got you," she repeated seemingly mid-kiss.

The embarassment he felt oozed away at the drop of a hat. He enjoyed every second of the kiss as Talia adjusted herself. He held her in his arms and looked up at her. "And I am OK with that..... captain."

Charlie suddenly rolled her over and was on top, and he gave her a long kiss before looking down at her. "But when we get home I just might have a special pinning position for you, if ya know what I mean." Charlie said as he got up, helping Talia up. "You know that I was like actually trying to win right? You made beating me down look plenty easy little lady..."

"Is that so?" Talia asked from beneath Charlie. "We'll see if I can break out of it...or if I want to," she added with a wink. As she was helped up, she couldn't help but feel smug. She only won because he let his guard down for a second, and that was all it really took. Had she let her guard down for too long, he would've stolen a win from her as well.

The redhead poked her finger into Charlie's chest jokingly. "That's 'Captain' little lady to you!" she corrected with a smile.